ANSWER TO MY FRIEND LESTER ABOUT MATTHEW 6:7-8 -VAIN REPETITIONS

Another inquiry from my friend Lester is the Mathew 6:7-8 wherein for him is the evidence that the Catholic prayers are invalid (he is talking about the Rosary where all the prayers are repeatedly citing).

Again let us read the particular verse that he cited.

Mt 6:7-8 (KJV)

⁷ But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

⁸ Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

In this particular verse he is accusing the Catholic prayers as invalid and unbiblical. For him praying the same prayer is against the teaching of the Bible. But once again this newly convert Born Again sect member is ignorant of the real context of the verse. He reads the passage a little too quickly.

Jesus isn't condemning repetition in prayer but rather He’s condemning “VAIN PRAYER”.

When Jesus said, "use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking" (Matthew 6:7, NAB), He was referring to a belief of the pagans that a god would not listen to your prayer unless you used his correct title, and the title would change every day. Thus, the pagans would begin their prayer with every title they could think of in order to make sure their prayers would be heard (e.g., "O Great Zeus, O Master of Olympia, O Great Father Zeus. . . .") Jesus tells us this is vain because pagan gods don’t exist, and when we pray to God he hears all our prayers. We don’t have to worry about getting the right title.

In fact, Scripture gives us many examples of repetitive prayer. For example, in Matthew 26:36–46, Jesus prayed the same prayer three times. In Revelation 4:8, four living creatures are around and within the throne, and day and night they do not cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty." And then there’s the tax collector in Luke 18:9–14 who is beating his breast repeatedly and praying, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" And let’s not forget Luke 11:1–4, where Jesus tells us how to pray: He gives us the Lord’s Prayer. Since most Christians pray the Lord’s Prayer from time to time, they are all "guilty" of repetitious prayer. But it is not vain prayer—after all; we merely are doing as Jesus taught us.

Any prayer can be prayed in vain. What makes a prayer efficacious is the attitude of the heart (cf. CCC 2559). And sadly, "If our heart is far from God, the words of prayer are in vain" (CCC 2562; cf. Matt. 15:8–9).

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He also cited Philippians 4:6 where he interprets as a definition of prayer, the passage reads as:

Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

I don’t have to argue with him regarding the verse for I totally agree with that Bible verse.

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I will just add the explanation of my friend Lay (one of my great apologetic adviser) in my article. The explanation was written in Tagalog so it would be very understandable by all.

"Ang Pagrorosaryo ba nating mga Katoliko ang tinutokoy sa Mateo 6:7?

Madalas nating naririnig sa mga umaatake sa ating mga Katoliko ang pangungutya nila sa ating mga panalangin dahil daw ito ay masama at kinontra pa ng Panginoong Jesus, madalas ginagamit ng ating mga kapatid na mga protestante ang talatang Mateo 6:7 para pasamain ang ating pagrorosaryo.

"At sa pananalangin ninyo ay huwag ninyong gamitin ang walang kabuluhang paulitulit, na gaya ng ginagawa ng mga Gentil: sapagka't iniisip nilang dahil sa kanilang maraming kasasalita ay didinggin sila."(Mateo 6:7)

Ngayon tignan natin sa bible na english na isinalin mula sa greek.

"And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words."(Matthew 6:7, The Interlinear Bible, Greek/English)

Because Matthew is the first book in the New Testament and the New Testament was Written in Greek.

Let us check this out...

In Greek:

proseuchomenoi de mE battologEsEte Hosper hoi ethnikoi dokousin gar hoti en tE polulogia autOn eisakousthEsontai

In the Greek scripture the word used is "battologEsEte".

The verb battologeo means to "stutter."

According to www.freedictionary.com (Stutter - A speech disorder characterized by spasmodic repetition of the initial consonant.)

The bible clearly states that This type of prayer is found in Hosea 7:14.

"They have not prayed to me sincerely, but instead they throw themselves down and wail as the heathen do. When they pray for grain and wine, they gash themselves like pagans. What rebels they are!"(Hosea 7:14)

Paano nagiging disorder ang panalangin ng mga katoliko, dahil itoy naiintindihan naman kung ito ay iyong pakikinggan?

Ang panalangin ng mga pagano sa mateo 6:7 ay disorder, ang panalangin nating mga katoliko ay nasa order.

-nothing follows-

Thanks a lot Bro. Lay for your wonderful explanations. I hope this helped my friend Lester to understand what he is talking about.